Rongxin Fang

Rongxin Fang is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Genetics (by courtesy) at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from UC San Diego (2015-2019) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Spatial Genomics at Harvard University (2019-2024). His work bridges high-throughput genomic technologies, computational tools, and transcriptome imaging to unravel the molecular architecture of the brain across species and developmental stages.

Research Highlights:

• Developed 3D MERFISH imaging for thick tissues (2024), enabling spatial genomics at unprecedented resolution.
• Led cross-species MERFISH studies (2022) revealing conserved cortical organization with human-specific glia-neuron interactions.
• Created SnapATAC (2021), a pivotal tool for large-scale single-cell ATAC-seq analysis.

Scientific Awards:

• Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists (2024)
• Next Generation Leader, Allen Institute (2024)
• Rising Star in Health in Engineering (2022)

Advising and Collaborations:

• Doctoral Dissertation Advisor for Eduardo Chaparro Barriera
• Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor for Ya Jiang
• Collaborated with Xiaowei Zhuang (Harvard), Adam Cohen (Harvard), and Bing Ren (UCSD)